Many people, including myself, don’t understand the entire adoption process. The PGN in Guatemala acts as the official adoption office in Guatemala. Paperwork is processed through the PGN and referrals are made through this department with the assistance of an attorney working through the PGN in Guatemala.

PGN stands for Procuradoria General de la Nacion. Procuradoria is a Spanish term that is used in Central America. Its relative to jurisprudence in Guatemala. The PGN in Guatemala is made up of lawyers, judges, counselors and administrators as a combination of the US Immigration Service and elements of the Justice Department. The Procurador is the person who manage and administers laws on behalf of people adopting through the PGN in Guatemala.In order to comply with The Hague Convention, the PGN in Guatemala was set up to act as the central department with authority over adoption in Guatemala. In addition to standardizing the adoption process, the Hague Convention is also an effort to stop the trafficking of children.

The PGN in Guatemala is the group that receives the paperwork prepared by prospective parent(s). The PGN reviews the paperwork and analyzes it against the adoption requirements required by Guatemala and the guidelines of The Hague Convention.

It is important to note, that the PGN in Guatemala does not charge a fee for adoptions. Many unscrupulous operators will attempt to charge vulnerable prospective parent(s) for this service.

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What is PGN?

I can’t say it enough.

OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT !

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PGN

Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown in “Peanuts”

There are days in our lives where we awaken delighted in what we are doing and there are days we awaken dreading what the sunshine will bring us. Most days we have control over the the kind of car we drive or what we eat…we even have control over what happens throughout the day. Should we answer that phone call or let it ring, pay the bills or forget about them until tomorrow?

What we don’t have control over is other’s actions, thoughts, feelings, whereabouts.

Anxiety sets in as I know that my future son’s birth mother meets with PGN today to tell her story all over again. Is her story true? In my gut I feel it is. But, what if it isn’t?

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An Interview with a Birth Mother

Last week the AP reported that at least Guatemalan officials annulled at least 15 cases due to “improprieties”. Of the 160 cases they had reviewed 15 cases had anomalies and 2,126 were yet to be investigated. Thankfully, the 145 cases that were “clean” were allowed to move forward.

Unfortunately, the AP reported that criminal complaints are being filed against lawyers, doctors, social workers, and birth mothers because of these cases. The problem is that they have misled officials and adoptive families throughout the entire process and they have taken money for the work they have done for children that may not officially be available for adoption.

For good news;

Two couples that we know heard from their agency that their birth mothers were interviewed and their cases will now move on to the review process in PGN.

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Positive Birth Mother Interviews

I believe that it was in January that I stated I would tell you all The Bebe’s name once we were out of Family Court and had the DNA results. It looks like it is finally that time. And, to be honest, all I want to do right now is breathe a sigh of relief, as we were kicked out of Family Court and sent back in after getting a new document.

But, all is well now in Guatemala. we are finally in PGN and awaiting a interview with the birth mother, one of the new requirements with the new officials. According to the Guatemalan Law it looks like they are not supposed to be able to imposed new restrictions but are choosing to do so anyway.

I understand that they want to insure the children and birth mothers are being treated fairly but it seems all so superficial to me, as if they are trying to create problems that really are not there.

Post from: Blisstree

The Name? Oh, That…

My “unofficial sources” (meaning list serves and other adoptive parents) are telling me that Birth Mother and Foster Mother interviews have already been scheduled and will be conducted according to entry date into PGN.

Apparently, grandfathered cases are not being processed under the old adoption process but rather being scrutinized however the new officials want to.

But, according to some adoptive parents, the birth mother simply has to come for a third sign-off (and interview) that is scheduled by the court and that PGN is actually moving quickly.

There is also speculation that PGN workers are creating this delay because once the grandfathered cases are all through there will be little work for them and many will be out of jobs. However, some also state that most of the original PGN workers have been replaced due to corruption.

 Note: At this time I have not had any official word from my agency. They tend to hold back until they have ALL of the pieces together so that they can give the right information.

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Birth Mother Interviews Scheduled in Guatemala

I do hope that this is simply media farce but I know that sometimes this can be all too real. Media tends to over examine events like this and make it into a mass hysteria event for ratings and page views. At this point our agency has not heard anything about a suspension and there are only two media reports so I don’t even know if this is real.  Please read this post with an objective mind and do some more research of your own before you “freak out”.We were told last week (via our representative in Guatemala who specifically went to PGN to confirm) that Guatemalan officials would not close or suspend adoptions because they wanted to proceed with adoptions plans. However, this morning, officials state that they want to suspend adoptions for at least a month to review paperwork of all pending adoptions. They are specifically looking for irregularities in paperwork.

I understand that Guatemala officials want to ensure that cases are official and that their children are protected but do they really have to shut the entire process down? Why can’t they simply double check each case as it passes through PGN? Then, after all cases have been processed through PGN they can halt all adoptions and facilitate an entirely new adoption process with safeguards for their birth mothers and children.

To me, that makes sense because no children get stuck in the system, waiting in foster care for their families.

Here is the Guatemalan paper, Prensa Libre.

On a Side Note

For all of you waiting to bring your children home please remember that this is absolutely NOT your agency’s fault and please don’t hound them to get something done, as they can’t really do anything. Please don’t make their job any harder than it is to bring you information and help you through the process. Allow them to gather information and do their jobs…vent on your own time, not to them.

Post from: Blisstree

Guatemala Adoptions Halted?

The new Attorney General Baudilio Protillo Merlos took over on April 24, 2008. The new Sub Attorney General is Flory de De Leon. Apparently de De Leon is holding off making any critical Constitutional Court rules and Merlos has requested an audit of in process cases.

So, what does this all mean?  Cases that were ready to go will be delayed.

Additionally, PGN  is on hold until agreements are settled. See Guatadopt for meeting updates.

Currently, our case is in Family Court. It got reviewed and kicked out for a Certificate of Citizenship paper. Our representative/lawyer got the requested document and resubmitted the case to the same court so we hope that it will end quickly and we will be on to PGN.

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Guatemala in Trouble Too?

Prospective adoptive parents must receive receipt of “pre-approval” from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/USCIS) office in Guatemala before their attorney can submit their dossier to the Guatemalan authorities. After obtaining clearance from a social worker under the supervision of a family court to proceed with a potential adoption case, the attorney submits the case to the Guatemalan Solicitor General’s Office (Procuradoría General de la Nación, PGN) for review.

So, now that we are close to the end of our DNA and Family Court…any ideas on what his name is?

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What Do You Think His Name Is?

The Bebe is three months old now and 12 pounds and 60 cm so it seems that he is just about 50% across the board according to US standards. Interestingly, this makes him a rather large Guatemalan baby.

Typical head circumference for Guatemalan boys is different than US children. If our son has a circumference of 39.7 he falls into the 50th percentile, which is typical for Guatemalan children.

Adoptmed.org has a fabulous site for growth charts from several countries.

We are still waiting for Family Court to finish, as the social worker in Guatemala is still working on it. And, we are still waiting for DNA to finish with the US Embassy. After that we will enter PGN.

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Bebe Update!